NATO wants details of U.S. plan to pull 5,000 troops from Germany

The logo of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the U.S. flag at NATO headquarters in Brussels. Photo by NICOLAS TUCAT /POOL/AFP via Getty Images

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The U.S. has ordered the drawdown of roughly 5,000 troops from Germany over the next year, following through on President Donald Trump’s threats to reduce American military presence in the country as tensions escalate over the war with Iran.

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A NATO spokesperson said the defence alliance is looking for details on the U.S. effort, adding that Washington’s move underscores the need for Europe to continue to invest more in its own defence.

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The alliance remains confident of its ability to provide for deterrence and defense as a shift toward a stronger Europe in a stronger NATO continues, the spokesperson said.

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The spat over troop levels in Germany also comes as Trump announced he was raising tariffs on cars and trucks from the European Union to 25%, a move that will have a disproportionate impact on German automakers.

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Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement on Friday that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had ordered the withdrawal.

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“This decision follows a thorough review of the department’s force posture in Europe and is in recognition of theatre requirements and conditions on the ground,” Parnell said. “We expect the withdrawal to be completed over the next six to twelve months.”

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The Pentagon didn’t respond to specific questions about whether the personnel would be repositioned elsewhere in Europe and if the reduction affected rotational or permanently stationed forces.

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The US plans were first reported earlier Friday by CBS News, which cited senior defence officials it did not name. Those officials cast the move as a demonstration of the president’s frustration with European allies who have balked at his calls to do more to assist the US and Israel in their war on Iran, the report said.

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Trump on Wednesday had said he was reviewing troop levels in Germany with an eye toward reducing those numbers. That announcement came just days after German Chancellor Friedrich Merz questioned Trump’s handling of the Iran war in unusually blunt terms, saying the administration was being “humiliated.”

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Some 35,000 troops — almost half the total of US forces in Europe — are currently stationed in Germany, where the American command for the region is headquartered. The US has relied heavily on its extensive network of bases and other facilities in Germany, a legacy of the Cold War, to prepare and launch operations against Iran.

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Trump’s order is likely to face opposition in Congress. His previous attempt to remove forces from Germany in 2020 was blocked by legislative opposition.

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Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, said in a statement that the president “should immediately reverse this foolish decision. Withdrawing thousands of American troops from one of our most important strategic positions in the middle of a war is a serious mistake that will reverberate well beyond this moment.”